Creating this picture, “Gracious”, was a race against time, like when I did Rapidly Ripening Figs and Nectarines, the first picture in this project.
My neighbour gifted me this short-lived flower, a type of hibiscus(?) called a Rose of Sharon. It grows on a small-to-medium nicely shaped tree and the blossoms last for 24 sweet hours!
To capture one of the flowers, I needed to allow enough time to continuously create – rather than with pauses as I often do – drawing and painting while the blossom lasted, for the sakes of both shape and colour. As you can see in the first of the photo group above, the petal colour starts a white with very delicate pink. Then it slowly gains more and more and more pink… It deeepened and changed as I worked. Meanwhile, the shape goes from gracious, to cautious, to collapsed … Mother Nature, you racer!
Once the flower and leaf were drawn and painted, I could of course finalise the vase, table and background at my own pace.
Looking forward to doing an exhibition of purely still lifes later this year… details soon!
How’s merry life in your neck of the woods? Have you got some persistent something flowering? Here are a few quick snaps of marigolds. Loving.The.Yellows.today!
Click this to see some with a light breeze!
The yellow is so kind and happy, and the generosity of nature is again apparent. There must be dozens of seeds in every flower, hundreds of seeds from every plant…
It’s not nature that is mean or greedy. It’s us. In fact a very, very few of us. I think we need to be inspired by Greta [Have you read this? I’ve ordered the book from my local library] to speak up about our beliefs. A very, very few are fouling this beautiful ship/planet for all of us, and if we go much further on this trajectory there’ll be no way back. [Too much? Too much for me too, today. I need to stay inside and paint yellow things for the sake of my mental health.]
Happily there are yellow marigolds with seeds.
Love and peace.
Speak soon,
Meg x o
PS Want to join Winter Drawing and Painting classes? We all need a break from the distractions and chaos sometimes, don’t we? And doesn’t it feel great to make things in good company? :)